Population:

Russia's total population in 2005 was estimated at  143,420,309, making the country the sixth most populous, after China, India, the United States, Indonesia, and Brazil.

The country is inhabited by one of the widest varieties of nationalities and ethnic groups in the world, and many of the country's national groups have their own administrative territories.

More than 100 nationalities inhabit Russia, making it one of the most multinational states in the world. The country contains 32 ethnic divisions that are scattered throughout its territory.

Three-quarters of the total population constitutes are concentrated in European Russia, while urban populations constitute over two-thirds of the total. Moscow, the capital, and St Petersburg are the two most populated cities, with 11 million and 5 million inhabitants respectively. They are major centres of business and political activities.

Ethnic groups:

 Russian                 79.8%,
 Tatar                    3.8%,
 Ukrainian              2%,
 Bashkir                 1.2%,
 Chuvash               1.1%, other or unspecified 12.1% (2002 census)

Age structure:

 0-14 years:           14.6% (male 10,704,617/female 10,173,313)
 15-64 years:         71.3% (male 49,429,716/female 52,799,740)
 65 years and over:14.2% (male 6,405,027/female 13,907,896) (2005 est.)

Population growth rate:               -0.37% (2005 est.)

  Birth rate:             9.8 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
  Birth rate:             9.8 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
  Death rate:           14.52 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate: 1.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio:

                          at birth:                  1.06 male(s)/female
                          under 15 years:      1.05 male(s)/female
                          15-64 years:           0.94 male(s)/female
                          65 years and over:  0.46 male(s)/female
                          total population:      0.86 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

                          total:                      15.39 deaths/1,000 live births
                          male:                     17.7 deaths/1,000 live births
                          female:                  12.94 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

                          total population:       67.1 years
                          male:                      60.55 years
                          female:                   74.04 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.27 children born/woman (2005 est.)

Nationality:

                          noun:                      Russian(s)
                          adjective:                Russian

Religions:          Russian Orthodox, Muslim, Budhism, other

Languages:       Russian,Tatar, other

Literacy:

                          definition:                age 15 and over can read and write
                          total population:       99.6%
                          male:                      99.7%
                          female:                  99.5% (2003 est.)